Which water pump for vRS please ?

[Trotts]

Sadly I am going to do this on my 2006 vRS, now nearly 50,000 and will bite the bullet. :( Bet the cam belt thing will look like new ! Anyway, somewhere in the distant past I saw it mentioned you should go for a water pump with metal impellers ? Please throw some light on this as OE stuff has plastic ? Any make and source you recommend, and are all cambelts V W supplied ?

[Ian M]

Did cam belt and water pump job recently on my '06 vRS. All went well.

Some advice:

If you are using skudmissile's guide on here (v.good BTW) don't go to the trouble of getting a tensioning tool - newer tensioners have a hex hole so you can use a hex bit or allen key to rotate them into position.

Another point is that I bought new engine mouting bolts/screws for £12ish on the understanding that they were stretch bolts. According to my local dealer though, they're not listed as stretch bolts/needing renewal and the parts guy told me that their mechanics always re-used these bolts.

Try Bickerton Skoda for a good price on genuine parts. If you go for separate components, for info the OE belt in the VAG kit was a Conti Tech one.

I got a genuine VAG waterpump on the warranty basis - it has a plastic impeller but AFAIK the breaking up problems related to early ones? Anyway the pump that came off mine at 60k was absolutely perfect. (Actually so was the cam belt, come to that! The auxilliary belt was A1 as well so I didn't bother to replace it)

The auxilliary belt tensioner is tricky to get a socket on - I'd recommend an offset ring spanner like in Skudmissile's photos if you can get hold of one.

The camshaft locking pin was a tight fit in the block - took me a few goes to be sure the engine was all lined up and locked before I took the old belt off.

Also, if you are using the Haynes Manual, that says remove the temp sender to vent the system when refilling. This is not necessary; just fill up and run, open/close heater valve, rev up a bit, check/top up for a day or two to make sure all air out of system. You'll need 3 bottles of G12++.

Hope this helps.

Edited 25 October, 2011 by Ian M

[opentoideas]

I got a genuine VAG waterpump on the warranty basis - it has a plastic impeller but AFAIK the breaking up problems related to early ones? Anyway the pump that came off mine at 60k was absolutely perfect. (Actually so was the cam belt, come to that! The auxilliary belt was A1 as well so I didn't bother to replace it)

IIRC the main worry on the plastic impeller was that if the bits jammed then you would strip teeth on the cam belt and bye bye engine :'(

that was certainly my reason for changing to a metal one and interestingly when I was investigating a head gasket failure I took the car to a VAG dealer to get a sniff test done and one of the other possibilities was the water pump.

when I mentioned this and that the pump had only recently been replaced the mechanic asked if it had been replaced with a VAG pump......

I expected to get the usual " well there is your problem" when I told him it was a non genuine but to my surprise he just told me - metal impeller? - yeah well then that wont have failed!

I got the distinct impression that had it been replaced with a VAG unit then he would not have been so sure. so I dont think the "problem" with the plastic ones has gone away.....

[grr666]

The plastic ones are more of an issue on petrol engines

as they run hotter. The one on my Bora went in the Dartford

tunnel, typically I was on my way to my Sisters wedding

[rotodiesel]

Run hotter? A water pump runs at the temperature of the coolant which is largely governed by the thermostat type fitted. Most VAG engines run at about 90 deg C - petrol or diesel.

I would never fit a water pump with a plastic impeller - too much at stake when it breaks up or comes loose on the shaft. Why introduce another failure mode?

rotodiesel.

[vindaloo]

Run hotter? A water pump runs at the temperature of the coolant which is largely governed by the thermostat type fitted. Most VAG engines run at about 90 deg C - petrol or diesel.

I would never fit a water pump with a plastic impeller - too much at stake when it breaks up or comes loose on the shaft. Why introduce another failure mode?

rotodiesel.

Anecdotal evidence (from garages etc) suggests water pump failure on the diesels is rare, as opposed to common on the 1.8Ts.

Would like to see pictures of the metal impeller versions. Are they all of good design? Are they closed back pumps or bend metal erm... paddle steamer wheels?

J.

[Ian M]

Well, on the basis of my 60k plastic-impellered pump looking and feeling pretty much like the brand new one I replaced it with (and the fact that the manufacturer's replacement part is (still) fitted with a plastic impeller), if I was the OP I wouldn't worry too much.

I appreciate that reports of failures have been made but like a lot of similarly-alleged problems, how common really is water pump failure on (say) post-2005 vRSs?

Hypothetical situation: You fit a non-VAG pump and it fails prematurely causing big engine damage; how do you think you would stand arguing with Skoda for a contribution to repairs /(small claims court if they don't play ball) compared with if you had fitted a genuine VAG part which had failed?

[Trotts]

Did cam belt and water pump job recently on my '06 vRS. All went well.

Some advice:

If you are using skudmissile's guide on here (v.good BTW) don't go to the trouble of getting a tensioning tool - newer tensioners have a hex hole so you can use a hex bit or allen key to rotate them into position.

Another point is that I bought new engine mouting bolts/screws for £12ish on the understanding that they were stretch bolts. According to my local dealer though, they're not listed as stretch bolts/needing renewal and the parts guy told me that their mechanics always re-used these bolts.

Try Bickerton Skoda for a good price on genuine parts. If you go for separate components, for info the OE belt in the VAG kit was a Conti Tech one.

I got a genuine VAG waterpump on the warranty basis - it has a plastic impeller but AFAIK the breaking up problems related to early ones? Anyway the pump that came off mine at 60k was absolutely perfect. (Actually so was the cam belt, come to that! The auxilliary belt was A1 as well so I didn't bother to replace it)

The auxilliary belt tensioner is tricky to get a socket on - I'd recommend an offset ring spanner like in Skudmissile's photos if you can get hold of one.

The camshaft locking pin was a tight fit in the block - took me a few goes to be sure the engine was all lined up and locked before I took the old belt off.

Also, if you are using the Haynes Manual, that says remove the temp sender to vent the system when refilling. This is not necessary; just fill up and run, open/close heater valve, rev up a bit, check/top up for a day or two to make sure all air out of system. You'll need 3 bottles of G12++.

Hope this helps.

Many thanks to Ian and others. Belt as good as new at 60K. Makes you wonder. My daughter in law has changed her cam belt on a 1.9tdi with 130K on it ! No issue with that either Still, where is the best place please to get a water pump from, with the metal impeller ?

[dazjenks]

I have been told that eurocarparts have metal impeller water pumps .

[opentoideas]

Hypothetical situation: You fit a non-VAG pump and it fails prematurely causing big engine damage; how do you think you would stand arguing with Skoda for a contribution to repairs /(small claims court if they don't play ball) compared with if you had fitted a genuine VAG part which had failed?

that was one of the reasons I had mine fitted by a VAG independant. the Skoda dealer were quite happy to supply and fit but would not warranty either the part or the fitting :no:

the indi warrantied the part and fitting for 12 months.

lets face it in either case you would only have a 12 month warranty and after that you would be on your own anyway.

TBH I doubt there is much in it but as there have been failures of the plastic ones and not metal I went for the metal but many others would rather go OEM.

its a crap shoot either way and I doubt it really makes much difference - any part can fail